Ava Gary Moore

Gary Moore, the multitalented guitarist whose periodic membership of Thin Lizzy and solo career spanning blues, hard rock and ballads brought him chart success and the admiration of his musical peers, has died aged 58.

Moore, originally from Belfast, was found dead in a hotel room on the Costa del Sol early today.

First drafted into Thin Lizzy by its frontman, Phil Lynott, in 1973, Moore had a number of stints with the Dublin groupand subsequently as a blues rock guitarist embraced a range of genres.

Eric Bell, whose departure from Thin Lizzy led to Moore being brought into the band, said: “He was so robust, he wasn’t a rock casualty, he was a healthy guy.”Moore was described as a “genius” by Niall Stokes, the editor of Irish music magazine Hot Press, who said that he had something “special” about him even as a teenage musician.

Hugely influenced by having seen Jimi Hendrix in Belfast, the 16-year-old Moore moved from the city to Dublin in 1969 to join Skid Row, then a four piece whose line-up featured Lynott as lead vocalist, and went on to share vocals with Brush Shiels after Lynott was dropped.

Recruited to Thin Lizzy in 1973 by Lynott – with whom he was said to share an intensely competitive relationship – Moore initially played with the group for a few months but returned four years later and went on to play on the band’s Black Rose album, released in 1979.

“Playing with Gary during the Black Rose era was a great experience, he was a great player and a great guy,” said the former Thin Lizzy guitarist, Scott Gorham, last night.

In the same year, Moore and Lynott enjoyed success with Parisienne Walkways, which reached the UK top 10 in 1979. The two would later combined for the single Out in the Fields in 1985, the year before Lynott died.

Moore, who released 20 solo studio albums, had returned to his blues roots in recent years and played in 2006 with former bandmates from Thin Lizzy, who were due to dedicate a performance in Vienna tonight to his memory.Brian Downey, a founding member of Thin Lizzy, said: “I am in total shock. He will always be in my thoughts and prayers and I just can’t believe he is gone.

“I have known Gary since 1967 when he was in (the band) Platform Three and he’s been an amazing friend ever since. It was a pleasure to play with Gary again in 2006 after his days with Lizzy.”

I was saddened this morning to see that Gary Moore had passed away. The man sure could play that axe. I rediscovered him when in the early 90’s his albumn was on high rotation on my CD player as I was going through the effects of a relationship break up. Shed many a tear to his weeping guitar and in so doing was able to get back from what I thought was a dark hole.